Bale tie



1940- E. F w. KEN-IL, JR 2223;109

BALE TIE I Filed Feb. 2, 1940 1e 10 :R 17 1o gwwuzkor/ E nest Z'WflihlJr.

Patented Nov. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES BALE TIE Ernest r. w. Keihl, Jr.,Medina, N. Y., assignor of one-half to Louis J. Kinietz, Medina, N. Y.-

- Application February 2, 1940, Serial No. 317,019

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-27) The present invention relates generally to baleties and more particularly to bale ties of the nature described andclaimed in my Patent Number 2,032,285, granted February 25, 1936, with 5respect to which it is the primary object of my present invention tomake certain improvements in the interest of safety in use.

It is a well known fact that when a bale held by ties of the characternow known, is to be opened, it is common to cut the wire near one of theconnections, that is near the loop or hook memberof the connection, sothat a short section of the complete tie isthus left with one or theother of the connections. At the time "the wire is cut, its parts springaway-from the instantly expanding bale and there is great danger thatthe short section will become disengaged at the hookloop connection andwill drop into the loose hay and get into the throats of feeding stock.

It is a requisite of a safe effective bale tie connection that afteronce subjected to the strain of holding a bale, it will be proof againstthe accidental displacement of the connecting members even when thepressure of the bale is eliminated by cutting of the bale wire, and,since my bale tie as shown in my patent above mentioned is open to thepossibility of separation of its members when a bale is opened, it is anobject of the present invention to improve the same in certain respectswhich will defeat-any possibility of separation of the connectingmembers after use of the tie around a bale.

In carrying my present invention into practical effect it is a furtherobject to follow as closely as possible the proven successfulconstruction of my prior patent, since I have found the same highlyeflicient in all other respects, and to modify the same only to theextent of slightly changing the hook member in certain respects for asafety lock,

and to permit of a substantially shorter loop by reason of which anadditional safety lock is brought about in a manner which willhereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating the present invention andforming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a bale showing my improvedtie in connection therewith as in use.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through Figure 1 on line 2-2thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional perspective view showing the parts of theconnection as they are assembled or connected in the first instance inuse,

and,

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the two connecting members indetached relation.

Rei'erring now to the above named figures of the drawing andparticularly to Figure 4, both the hook member shownat the right and theloop 5 member shown at the left, are formed in connection with the balewire III by bending back the end portions II and I2 ofthe wire andtwisting the extremities of such bent back portions with portions of thebodyof the wire as at Hand I4 10 in a manner to leave at theterminals ofthe bale tie as a whole a single strand loop member 15 constituting oneterminal, and a double strand hook member constituting-the otherterminal and generally seen at [6. u r

The loop member I5 is initially formed of generally oblong shape,elongated lengthwise, and of the same width at both ends toform thereinan opening which is of the same width throughout its length. In thepresent construction it is es- 20 sential that the loop member l5 be asshort as possible, or in other wordsonly as longas'the width or heightof the hook member, which must be passed through the opening of the loopmember, requires. 7

It is to be remembered that, as previously stated the loop member I I5is of single strand construction, meaning that buta single strandencloses its opening at the sides and free end thereof.

The hook member,gon the other hand, is dis- 30 tinctly a double strandconstructiom'each part thereof, including the bill l6, hook I! and shankI! being formed of two strands of the bale wire 10 beyond the twistedportion H, the strands in each instance lying in the same plane at right3' angles to the longitudinal axis of the hook member.

Thus the shank l8, which extends lengthwise beyond the twisted portion14 consists of inner and outer strands l9 and 20, of which the innerstrand I8 is curved laterally and then rearwardly to form the innerstrand 2| of the hook I1, and the outer strand 20 is bent to form alateral inward offset 22 and then extends forwardly to form one of thestrands 23 of the substanding straight forwardly extending bill l6,whose plane parallels that of the shank It in oifset relation thereto.It will be noted that in the present construction the offset 22intermediate the shank and bill strands 20 and 23 is curved to closely5. engage and follow a portion ofthe bight or semicircularly curvedportion 24 closing the forward end of the loop receiving channel of thehook l1, so as to rigidly brace this bight portion 24 for a purpose tobe presently described. a

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The outer strand 2! of the hook I! extends forwardly in close parallelrelation and uniform con-. tact throughout with the inner strand 2ithereof and Joins a lateral ofl'set It at its forward end, beyond whichit continues as the other strand 21 of the bill it, the oifset 26curving along and closely against the other portion of the bight 24 sothat it cooperates with the offset 22 informing a rigid brace for saidbight.

It is to be particularly noted that the strands composing the bill l6,hook l1 and shank ll parallel one another in each instance in closely,uni formly contacting relation and that this relation of the strandsreduces the width of the hook member, which is in thickness no greaterthan a single strand, to a minimum, so that the loop member l5 need onlybe such as to provide an opening of the width of but a single strand anda length but slightly greater than the width of the hook member.

It is also to be noted that the hook II of the hook member is slightlycurved in the direction of its free end toward the shank l8 so as toprovide a constricted throat 28 into which the loop member l5 must besnapped when pressure is on the bale and there is sufllcient slack inthe bale tie as a whole to permit the operator to pass the hook memberendwise through the loop member as seen in Figure 3 until the extremeend of the loop member is r'earwardly of the hook ll.

When, after connection of the hook and loop members in the above manner,pressure on the bale is released and acts against the surrounding baletie, this pressure immediately seeks to stretch or distort any parts ofthe bale tie connecting members capable of stretching and distortion. Inthe present instance the double strand hook member is so efiicientlybraced that its hook, or rather the bight portion 24 cannot yield, andhence the full strain is thrown on or limited to, the single strand loopmember ii of the connection. It has been pointed out that due to thecompact construction of the hook member, the loop member may beinitially of short length and upon a loop 1 member of this character ithas been found that the pressure or strain has a tendency to distort thesame by contracting it laterally at its inner or rear portion adjacentto the twisted portion l3, as'plainly shown in Figure 2, with theresult,

that its opening is, at this point, reduced in width to less than thewidth of a single strand of'the wire whereby to effectivelyprovide' asecond locking of. the hook member in its engaged position through theloop member. I Due to the foregoing, it is obvious that, in addition tosnapping the loop member into engage-- loop transversely.

.ment with the hook which constitutes one means orllocking feature toavoid the danger of partingof the connected means after they are onceJoined, the deformation or lateral contraction of the inner portion ofthe loop member brought about by bale pressure and by reason of the factthat I have provided against any yield or stretch of the hook member,adds a second lock means which precludes all danger of the separation ofeither member of the connection when the bale wire is severed, as itusually is, near one of the members. I thus avoid any danger of thedropping of loose short endmembers or pieces which so frequently causetrouble in the feeding of baled hay to stock as first above mentioned.

What is claimed is:

A bale tie comprising a wire having twisted shank portions and providedat one end with an openloop and at the other end with a hook memberincluding arear hook portion and a front brace portion, said hookportion including a straight base portion extending longitudinally ofthe bale tie and consisting of two strands of wire arranged incontiguity throughout and a locking portion also consisting of. twostrands of wire arranged in contiguity throughout, said straight lockingportion being inclined and extending inwardly towards the contiguousshank of the bale tie at an angle thereto to form a constricted jentrance to the hook and'the distance between the rear end of thelocking portion and the rear end of the base portionof the hook member.being less than the diameter of the wire of the bale tie, said braceportion likewise consisting of two strands of the wire arranged incontiguity throughout, all of the strands occupying substantially thesame common plane disposed longitudinally of and coinciding with thelongitudinal plane of the bale tie wire, one of said brace portionstrands being a continuation of one of the base portion strands and theother of said brace portion strands being a continuation of one of thelocking portion strands, the internal length of the loop being slightlygreater than the overall width of the hook member and materially lessthan the length of the front brace portion when the loop is undertension and laterally collapsed to cause a material overlapping of thefront brace portion and the twisted shank portion of the loop end of thewire when the loop is engaged by the hook member, and the internal widthof the loop being slightly greater than the diameter of the wire wherebystretching of the tie under conditions of use is limited to thecontraction of the ERNEST r'. w. JR.

